Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Anthony.
Hi Michael, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I started my business back in 2011 working part-time as I was a full-time LAPD officer. By 2014 I left the department to pursue photography full-time. In 2015 my wife left her registered nursing career to come to assist me in the business.
Since then our business has grown to over 30 photographers and videographers. We have traveled the world as destination photographers to photograph in over 10 different countries.
Some of my accolades include winning the Gold Medal for Team USA in the World Photographic Cup 2x in Norway & Italy, including winning the “Best of Nations Award” for Team USA, being ranked the #1 Wedding Photographer in the USA by One Eyeland & WPE Awards, being named “Diamond Photographer of the Year” by Professional Photographers of America in 2019, and earning over 100 awards in various international image competitions.
I am also a photography educator, and have been a featured speaker at both national and international conferences throughout the world, as well as writing a monthly column in Shutter Magazine.
We created a style of photography that we dubbed “cinematic” which has led to us photographing hundreds of weddings per year with our team, and in 2021 started a line of Fine Art Portraiture.
We also own SoCal Headshots, Los Angeles’s premier corporate headshot photography studio, and Marilyn Lou Boudoir, a fine art boudoir line run by my wife Jennifer.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our business had grown very fast in the early years, causing me to go from being an artist to learning how to be a business owner through trial and error. Through the last 8 years, I have learned that a customer-first-experience-focused studio will leave a lasting impression on our clientele that will have them trusting us to capture their images for years to come.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We specialize in 3 different styles of photography.
Cinematic Signature – Our photographers strive to achieve the “wow” of a client’s wedding day by shooting images in a Cinematic Style. Cinematic-style photos are our signature images.
These images are the ones you imagine on the cover of your wedding album, those that will hang proudly on your wall, and the ones that draw inspiration from high fashion magazines and wedding gown advertisements.
Sometimes labeled as fine art photography, Weddingwire.com explains it as “fashion photography” because it borrows techniques from the world of high-end fashion.
Cinematic incorporates movement, fashion-based lighting, and storytelling while blending a couple and their environment.
The Cinematic Style focuses on:
Capturing vivid, fashion-inspired poses
Using architectural elements and environmental details
Incorporating dramatic lighting
Elaborate hand editing
Our team will hand edit these images, often taking up to an hour to perfect a single image. These photographs will offer a dramatic flair, while also capturing the beauty of the venue, the details, and the wardrobe.
Creative Photojournalism
We use a creative photojournalistic approach to your day. Artistic Photojournalism essentially means that our skilled photographers are going to take the time to get to know their subjects on a deeply personal level.
That helps us to identify the moments that are important to our couples. It also helps us to understand what pieces of their day will evoke rich emotion, and especially, what memories are worth preserving.
A photojournalistic style of photography captures even the small moments that sometimes occur in between more significant moments.
Creative Photojournalism focuses on:
Capturing moments from creative angles
Triggering powerful memories
Noticing what others may not have seen.
Capturing natural and unguarded moments
Sometimes, while the bride and groom are cutting the cake, grandma and grandpa are quietly stealing a kiss in the background.
Likewise, while the best man gives his toast, the groom’s laughter may be creating the perfect portrait to capture his joy in the day.
This style ensures that those other moments, the moments that make memories, get documented as well.
Good photographers have their cameras ready to shoot through all the critical moments. Doing so allows our photographers a better opportunity to not miss a thing.
The photographer’s creativity and skill are relied on to tell your love story. Our experienced photographers are trained to continue shooting even when they think the moment may be over to capture the unexpected, the rare, and the beautiful.
Traditional Wedding Photography Style
Of course, blending in a conventional approach is equally as important. All of those well-planned details and correctly scheduled events cannot be overlooked or forgotten.
Typically, our photographers will use natural light portraiture techniques to capture photos that will stand the test of time.
Our photographers can master this, even when the lighting is low or the setting is not ideal. You can expect images such as a portrait of the cake, a picture of the bouquets, a pose with grandma or the giggling flower girls, and happy photographs of toasting bridesmaids.
Traditional Wedding Photography Style incorporates:
Capturing clean lines and crisp images
Using natural light
Keeping a bright and airy feel
Maintaining a modern vibe
Some posed and formal shots
It is a technique here, which sets this style apart from a photojournalistic approach. Where a photojournalistic style capture events as they naturally unfold, a more traditional method includes the classic, posed shots of the couple with their family and bridal party.
Traditional photography is clean and modern, but more importantly, it will stand the test of time. In other words, your wedding photos won’t be cheesy in 15 years.
These photos often involve the photographer adjusting a pose, pausing a moment, or gathering groups of people together. That is not to say that this style of photography is all posed or formal, but instead, it involves more planning on the part of the photographer to ensure that close family, friends, and the moments that happen between them are all documented.
We design these images by the photographer’s creativity rather than only organically occurring events.
Networking and finding a mentor can have a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Find a mentor that first has an active business doing what you want to be doing. I have always found that people that teach but do not do, often do not know how to deliver their students results.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.michaelanthonyphotography.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/michaelanthonyphotography
- Facebook: facebook.com/maphotola
- Twitter: twitter.com/manthonyphotography
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/elevatephotographyeducation
Image Credits
Michael Anthony Photography
